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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893698">shine bright, fly high (a molina household perspective)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajy/pseuds/ajy'>ajy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Death, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:47:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27893698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajy/pseuds/ajy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>what happens in the molina household before and after rose's death. inspired by the wake up scene in julie and the phantoms, episode one.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos Molina &amp; Julie Molina's Mother, Julie Molina &amp; Julie Molina's Mother, Julie Molina's Mother/Ray Molina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>shine bright, fly high (a molina household perspective)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>the molina household was almost never silent. at any given moment, you could hear a faint hum of a tune, an array of notes playing in the distance, or even just good old radio music. rose molina believed the best way to wake up a household was through music. </p>
<p>ray loved this about his wife. it was one of the things that made him fall in love with her, especially since the moment he caught her eye in a music festival. fate, he thought in his head. rose said it was the power of music that brought them together. </p>
<p>the molina household did not shame any type of music. rock and roll, new and old, bubblegum bop, classical, they all played a role in developing their children's taste for music. carlos, their youngest, much preferred bands and sounds with a distinct drum beat. julie, on the other hand, loved it all. she was constantly trying to sing along to songs she wasn't familiar with, and begged her mom to teach her how to play the piano, so when her tiny fingers grew big enough to reach the keys, her mother started to introduce her to the basics. soon enough, the house was filled with not one, but two soulful voices, with the occasional addition of carlos and ray's offbeat hand-drumming. </p>
<p>mostly, though, it was just julie and her mom. when she turned ten, rose allowed her to help spruce up the garage, buying a couple new instruments and decorations to liven up the place. one thing they didn't discuss was the upstairs floor. julie didn't know why, but it was something she knew never to ask about to her mother, and vice versa. </p>
<p>once julie was old enough to write coherent sentences, she tried out songwriting, with a lot of help from rose. many ideas were scrapped, but never did they once think of them as wasted time. any time spent with each other in the garage was a precious time capsule, hidden in the back of julie's mind for when she needed them, especially in the future years. </p>
<p>music wasn't the only important thing in the molina household. sunday brunch became a weekly routine, where the four of them whipped up a new recipe, either found from the internet or from their own imaginations. some weeks it was a success, and others it was a considerable attempt at the very least. rose and ray never hindered their kids' imagination, though. they believed that creativity is best fueled by feeding on even the wackiest ideas. </p>
<p>no one was prepared for the year that would change their lives. slowly, the bright and colourful walls of the house turned dimmer with each passing day. brunches became less frequent. even if music was turned on, something was missing. a spark, once fueled with love and passion, slowly burned away into small corner, dissipating what was left of the light in the molina household, plunging it into darkness. </p>
<p>then came the dreaded day to say goodbye. they knew it was coming, yet it didn't make it any easier. rose told them it was going to be okay. yet, how could it be? she was the one leaving them.</p>
<p>a year went by. to the remaining family members, it felt like an eternity. but life goes on, whether your loved one is here or not. life caught up with them, forcing them to go back to the lives they used to live with rose. the lives they now try to decipher in a new way, without her. </p>
<p>it is difficult to patch up a broken heart when some of the pieces are gone forever. julie found it especially hard to keep going, but she had to, she had to try, one day at a time. even with her upbeat friend pulling her up when she needed a helping hand, it was still hard to even breathe some days. but she kept going. for rose.</p>
<p>music no longer filled the molina household. how could it, when the very reason it existed was no longer there? every time julie came home to a silent house, she felt like screaming. therapy sessions took over the place of her usual songwriting sessions with her mother. slowly, she convinced her dad to lay off the sessions, letting herself instead be swallowed up by her bed, surrounded by the feeling of emptiness and broken notes.</p>
<p>she created lots of conversations with rose in her head. where she was, how she was doing, random questions popping into her head every now and then. sometimes, she would remember a distinct memory of her mother, and she would rush to write it down in a piece of paper, refusing to let a single second be drowned out by the negative voices in her head. </p>
<p>julie never thought she would step foot in the garage again, not attempt to be associated with music again, despite several attempts from her peers, teachers and occasionally her father. ray missed the melodious harmonies filling up the room, but he cared more about his daughter's well-being than to force her into something she wasn't ready for. with carlos, it was a matter of distracting him with a new fad or topic. most of the time it worked, but sometimes he noticed his little boy looking out into the garage where once light used to shine, followed by an angelic voice filling the space inside.</p>
<p>then one day, it just happened. just like that. no warning, no signs, just a beautiful, single voice emitting from the garage in the quiet morning light. it was a shock to both ray and carlos, and yet it felt like something that was bound to happen. </p>
<p>julie didn't even realise she was playing the keyboard until she started to feel a heavy weight being lifted from her chest, sending its way up, and a sudden light making its way back into the garage, into the household, into the souls of the molina family. it was only her voice that day, but julie could subconsciously hear her mother cheering her on, beside her, playing the keys for her, just like she did the first time she attempted to play the keys. she felt alive again. </p>
<p>she didn't assume things were magically going to turn back to normal afterwards. and yet, her days felt a little lighter, house a little brighter. she was still grieving, but it was easier. especially when she started to lean on to her new found family, along with her birth one. she found that it wasn't weak to rely on people sometimes. it's a sign of strength to admit when you need a little help, and julie knew that now. </p>
<p>healing, she thought, was a bumpy ride. one minute she could be completely fine, and the next she was a wreck. however, she's more aware of it. she makes sure to check in on her dad and brother, the way they always did when she was cooped up in her bed grieving. </p>
<p>some days, when the days seemed harder to push through, a little voice popped up in her mind sometimes. 'i love you, my little butterfly. shine bright for me.' </p>
<p>'I will, mom,' she thought. 'only if you fly high for me.'</p>
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